Vatican Bank Says It Holds No Investments in Fossil Fuels

ROME — The director general of the Vatican bank, Gian Franco Mammì, confirmed this week that the institution holds no investments in the fossil fuel industry, apparently in response to challenges from climate change activists.

Mr. Mammì told the U.S.-based National Catholic Reporter that the Vatican bank follows the same practices as other European banking institutions, investing in treasury instruments rather than private equities.

In recent months, the Vatican has been plagued with a series of financial scandals, a number of which involved questionable investments.

The Italian daily Corriere della Serarevealed in December that the Vatican’s Secretariat of State had invested upwards of a million dollars to finance the Rocketman film, a steamy biopic of singer-songwriter Elton John with a graphic scene of gay sex.

Using money donated by the Catholic faithful through worldwide “Peter’s Pence” collections, the Vatican invested some €6 million to become a 25-percent partner in Lapo Elkann’s eyewear and